The Metronome at the Corner

During the COVID-19 outbreak,Li Zhen,a teacher at Wuhan No.2 School for the Deaf,was busy in doing voluntary work for nursing homes while teaching his students online.He was so occupied that he didn’t even have the time to look after his pregnant wife.

“Students will soon participate in the entrance exam to college,so I must train them through online videos.It is more important for me to offer psychological counseling to them,because they are more sensitive than normal students.” Young as he is,Li Zhen often calls his students children,and the latter call him their “Brother of Dance.”

Six Bottles of Iced Water

Every day,Li Zhen prepares five or six bottles of iced mineral water,which are used to cool his mobile phone.While being a volunteer,he never forgets to offer his students video guidance in dance and psychological counseling.All the work has to be done with the help of a mobile phone.But long time communicating with the students online causes his mobile phone to heat up,thus affecting their smooth communication.Therefore,he cools his mobile phone by placing bottles of iced water on its back.

Li Zhen (middle) and his students as the champions in Italy李楨（中）和學生在意大利參加比賽奪冠后合影

疫情期間，武漢市第二聾啞學校的李楨老師很忙,他一邊在養老院做志愿者，一邊遠程指導學生，連做月子的愛人都來不及照顧。

“孩子們快要高考了，我要視頻指導訓練，更重要的是做好心理輔導，他們比一般人更敏感。”盡管李楨很年輕，但他習慣叫學生們“孩子”，學生則都稱他為“舞蹈哥哥”。

六瓶冰凍礦泉水的用途

每天出門前李楨都要準備五六瓶冰凍礦泉水。這些冰水是給手機降溫用的。當志愿者的同時，他通過視頻輔導學生舞蹈課和心理輔導，離了手機不行。跟學生交流時間長了手機就會發燙，影響流暢度，他就用冰水瓶子放在手機后面降溫。

高三學生梅子藝術有天賦，高考有望通過藝術加分進一所好大學，但她性格內向。李楨注意到這一點，通過手語跟梅子私聊后發現，梅子的父母受疫情影響失去了工作，在生活重壓下想讓梅子放棄高考。

This scene was such a shock and grief to Li Zhen that he went to help these students set the music with tears in his eyes.“I was deeply moved by their love for art,” he said.At that moment,he decided that he would stay to help these children realize their dreams.

Meizi,a senior student gifted in art,is expected to be admitted to a good university with her art bonus points.Noticing her timidity,Li Zhen talked privately with her through sign language and found that she was at the verge of giving up her college entrance exam because her parents lost their jobs due to the epidemic and the family was under heavy economic pressure.

Li Zhen then persuaded Meizi’s parents to change their mind by analyzing her future employment situation,and by telling some success stories about deaf students who had studied in colleges and universities.He said,“Every decision by parents may have an impact on the whole life of their children.It is a duty for teachers in special education schools to do ideological work with the parents.”

Reason for His Stay

Li Zhen graduated from the School of Music of Central China Normal University,majoring in Dance Education.10 years ago,he witnessed a scene which stayed in his mind and led to his decision to stay working for the school for the deaf.

In May of 2010,Li Zhen,who was about to graduate,was invited to help rehearse dances in Wuhan No.2 School for the Deaf.One day after supper,he got to the dance classroom in advance and saw a group of children sitting around a large speaker at a high volume,their ears against it.After asking them,he learned that before rehearsal these children wanted to feel the melody and rhythm of the music by the vibration of the speaker box.But they accidentally set the sound box to the radio mode,not realizing that it produced a harsh noise.

This scene was such a shock and grief to Li Zhen that he went to help these students set the music with tears in his eyes.“I was deeply moved by their love for art,” he said.At that moment,he decided that he would stay to help these children realize their dreams.Refusing offers from employers with good conditions,he became the only full-time dance teacher in this school.

After he started to work as a teacher there,Li Zhen faced many difficulties since he had no knowledge of special education and sign language at all.He still remembers that after the school opened in autumn of 2010,his class was in disorder.At that time,in a bad mood he hid himself in the lounge until a small hand patted him on the shoulder.When he turned around,he found a student with Down’s syndrome smiling at him,without using any sign language.

“I suddenly realized how absurdly I behaved.I was like a kid,who gets moody easily in face of difficulty.While on the contrary,like an adult,that child seemed to be quietly telling me that I should not worry and that I would be qualified for my job if I learned new knowledge little by little!” Thinking of this,Li Zhen rose and returned to the classroom.He started teaching the students again from every act,rhythm,and stage picture…

李楨給家長做工作，給他們分析未來的就業形勢，給他們講以往考上大學的聾啞學生畢業就業的事例，最終改變了他們的想法。“家長的每一個決定，都可能會影響孩子的一生，做家長的工作是特教學校老師的常態。”

震撼一幕讓他留在聾校

李楨畢業于華中師范大學音樂學院舞蹈教育專業，扎根聾啞學校，是因為那個10年來一直印在腦海中的畫面。

2010年5月，即將畢業的李楨受邀到二聾校幫忙排練舞蹈。一天，晚飯后他提前來到舞蹈教室，看到一群孩子圍坐在響著巨大噪聲的音箱旁邊，一個個把耳朵貼在音箱上。問了以后才知道，他們是為了在排練前通過音箱的振動感受一下音樂的旋律和節奏。他們不小心將音箱調成了收音機模式，卻不知道音箱發出的是刺耳的噪聲。

這一幕讓李楨心酸顫抖，他噙著淚水上前幫學生們調出音樂。“他們對藝術那種純粹的向往，深深地打動了我。”李楨說，他當時就下定決心，要留下來，幫孩子們圓夢。他婉拒了好單位的橄欖枝，成為二聾校唯一一名專職舞蹈教師。

沒有學過特殊教育，沒有學過手語的李楨從教后遇到了很多麻煩。李楨回憶，2010年秋季開學后，他的課堂亂成一鍋粥。他心情很不好，課間躲在休息室不肯出來。此時，一只小手拍了拍他的肩膀。他轉過身，看到一名先天愚型的學生對著自己微笑，沒有任何手語表達。

“我突然意識到自己多么荒唐，自己才像個孩子，遇到不順就情緒化。而他卻像個成年人，仿佛默默地告訴我：不要著急，我們一點一點學，一定可以的！”李楨起身回到教室，又開始從每一個動作、每一拍節奏和每一個舞臺畫面開始教起……

上天不負有心人。李楨最終帶著孩子們完成了舞蹈《楚韻雄風》，并在第二年奪得了全國特殊學校舞蹈比賽二等獎。此后，每當李楨難以堅持時，都會回想起那個學生無聲的微笑，想起孩子們第一次奪獎的興奮。“讓每一個聾啞孩子能夠在舞臺上發光”成了他最大的夢想。

帶著學生奪取世界冠軍

李楨除了教全校高一到高三的律動課，還要帶幾十名學生組成的校藝術團。聾啞學生跳舞，第一步是要感受律動。李楨從讓他們把手放在鼓上感受節奏做起，一步步統一學生對樂曲節奏的把握。練舞時，他總是高舉雙手打拍子、做提示，年紀輕輕就得了肩周炎。

學生們為圓夢舞臺也付出了常人難以想象的努力。2013年8月，李楨帶隊赴長沙參加全國第八屆殘障人文藝匯演比賽。由于參賽隊伍較多，訓練場地極為緊張。他們只能找到一處戶外停車場，頂著烈日排練。“當時的舞蹈動作有很多是在滾燙的地面上完成的，排練結束，看到孩子們身上一道道血印子，有的傷口還夾著沙礫。”李楨說，最終他們拿到全國銀獎，和金獎的大學生作品僅差0.01 分。

10年來，李楨帶著二聾校藝術團共獲得國家級獎項9 個、省級獎項11 個、市級獎項35 個。2018年元旦，他們首次走出國門，在意大利國際啦啦操公開賽中，作為唯一的殘障人隊伍，戰勝30 多支勁旅，拿到高中組集體花球和雙人花球兩項世界冠軍。

巨大的付出也給李楨帶來諸多感動。在東方衛視《完美搭檔》節目中，李楨和兩名聾啞學生代表第一次走進大型演播廳，在聚光燈下展現完美演出。當他從舞臺角落被邀請上臺，兩名學生拿出了一封偷偷準備的信，交給評委伊能靜。

“舞蹈哥哥，我們私底下一直這樣偷偷叫你。在我們小時候，沒有人會知道我們想什么，也沒有人在意我們想怎么樣。直到有一天你出現了，我們第一次知道我們能跳這么漂亮的舞蹈、啦啦操……我們知道你熱愛舞蹈，拿過很多獎，但你從遇到我們以后，就再也沒有登上過舞臺，只能在角落里當我們的節拍器。是你的堅持，讓我們沒有放棄。謝謝你，舞蹈哥哥……”伊能靜念完信，淚流滿面。

2010年至今，李楨不知不覺中已培養了近10 屆畢業生。北京、天津、長春、重慶、鄭州、西安、南京……每年寒暑假，學生們都會從各地高校回武漢看望李楨，這是他每年最大的收獲和欣慰。

Just as a Chinese saying goes,“God helps those who help themselves.” Li Zhen finally led the children to complete the dance “Stately Charm of Chu,” and gained the second prize in a national dance contest of special education schools in 2011.Afterwards,whenever he lost his momentum and wanted to quit,the silent smile of the child and his students’ excitement at winning a prize for the first time came to his mind.Thus,“enabling every deaf child to shine on the stage” became his greatest dream.

Coach of World Champions

Besides teaching the rhythm course to senior high students at the school,Li Zhen was also responsible for the students’ art group.To learn a dance,a deaf student must first feel the rhythm.Li asked his students to put their hands on the drum to feel rhythm,and unified their grasp of music rhythm step by step.When he instructed his students to practice a dance,he always held his hands high to show the beat and give hints.As a result,he got a frozen shoulder at a young age.

His students have also dedicated incredible efforts to perfecting their stage performance.In August of 2013,Li Zhen led his students to participate in the 8th National Theatrical Festival for Disabled People in Changsha,Hunan Province.Contestants filled up the competition hall and arenas for training,so Li and his students had to rehearse in the burning sun in an outdoor parking lot.“Many dance movements were completed on the hot ground.At the end of the rehearsal,the kids bore many injuries,” said Li Zhen.Finally,they won the national silver award,only 0.01 points behind the gold.

In the past 10 years,led by Li Zhen,Wuhan No.2 School for the Deaf has gained 9 national awards,11 provincial ones,and 35 municipal ones.On January 1,2018,as the only disabled art team,for the first time it gained the world championships in both Team Cheer Freestyle Pom and Doubles Cheer Freestyle Pom for senior high schools after it defeated over 30 rivals in the International Cheer Open held in Italy.

Great efforts were accompanied by many touching details.InPartner,a program on China’s Dragon TV,Li Zhen and his two deaf students entered a big studio and put on a perfect performance in the spotlights for the first time.When he was walking onto the stage,the two students took out a secretly prepared letter and gave it to the panel judge Annie Shizuka Inou.

“Brother of Dance is what we always call you privately.In our childhood,no one knew what we thought or cared about what we wanted to do.It was not until your appearance that we first realized we could perform such wonderful dances.We know that you love dance and have won many awards.Since you came to teach us,however,you have never appeared on the stage.What you do is act as a metronome at the corner.It is because of your persistence that we have not given up our efforts.Thank you,Brother of Dance…”As Annie Shizuka Inou finished reading this letter,tears welled up in her eyes.

From 2010 to now,Li Zhen has coached nearly 10 batches of graduates,who are now studying or working in Beijing,Tianjin,Changchun,Chongqing,Zhengzhou,Xi’an,Nanjing,and so on.During winter and summer vacation,many of his students return from their colleges to visit him in Wuhan,which offers him the greatest pleasure every year.(Translation: Cao Qing)